重磅！月亮上发现“嫦娥石”
9月9日，中国传统节日中秋佳节前夕，国家航天局、国家原子能机构联合在京发布嫦娥五号最新科学成果。
我国科学家首次发现月球上的新矿物并命名为“嫦娥石”，该矿物是人类在月球上发现的第六种新矿物，我国也成为世界上第三个发现月球上新矿物的国家。
The China National Space Administration and the China Atomic Energy Authority jointly announced in Beijing on Friday that the new mineral – Changesite-(Y) – was found by scientists at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology from surface samples returned by the country's Chang'e 5 robotic mission and has been certified by the International Mineralogical Association and its Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification. The Changesite-(Y), which falls in the category of lunar merrillite, has become the first lunar mineral ever discovered and identified by Chinese scientists, making China the third nation in the world, after the United States and Russia,that has achieved such feat, officials from the two governmental agencies said at a news conference in Beijing.
“嫦娥石”是一种磷酸盐矿物，呈柱状晶体，存在于月球玄武岩颗粒中。
中核集团核工业北京地质研究院创新团队，通过X射线衍射等一系列高新技术手段，在14万个月球样品颗粒中，分离出一颗方圆约10微米大小的单晶颗粒，并成功解译其晶体结构。
The mineral sample, in the form of a single-crystalline particle with a diameter of 10 microns, was manually separated by researchers from more than 140,000 tiny particles and then analyzed through a series of advanced mineralogical methods, according to the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology, one of the major institutes of China National Nuclear Corp.
经国际矿物学协会 （IMA） 新矿物命名及分类委员会 （CNMNC） 投票通过，确证为一种新矿物。
图源：国家航天局、国家原子能机构
国家航天局与国家原子能机构作为我国航天及核领域的政府主管部门，始终坚持“创新引领、协同高效、和平发展、合作共享”的原则。
2020年12月17日，嫦娥五号携带1731克月球样品返回地球。国家航天局已完成四批152份共计53625.7毫克的月球样品发放，有33家科研单位的98位申请人通过申请。第五批月球样品正完成评审，后续按程序发放。
The landmark mission returned 1,731 grams of lunar rocks and soil back to Earth on Dec 17, 2020, achieving a historic accomplishment about 44 years after the last lunar substances were brought back from our nearest celestial neighbor.
中科院、教育部、自然资源部、中核集团等多个单位获批承担月球样品研究工作，国外科学家、留学生也参加了联合研究。
目前已在岩浆分异、太空风化、氦-3气体以及生物能转化等方面取得最新成果，对认识月球起源与演化，探寻月球资源的有效利用以及实现“零能耗”的地外环境和生命支持系统具有重要启示意义。
记者：赵磊
编辑：李金昳
来源：中国日报 新华社 央视新闻 人民日报